Equal pension rights for same sex couple following landmark case

Equal pension rights for same sex couple following landmark case.

Following a landmark case heard at the Supreme Court a same sex couple have secured equal pension sharing rights.

This ruling entitles the applicants husband to a pension of around £45,000 per year, the same amount as if he was married to a woman, rather than the £1,000 per year he would have received.

In 2006 the applicant asked his company to confirm that in the event of his death, it would pay the spouse’s pension to his civil partner. It refused because his marriage pre dated 5 December 2005 – the date that civil partnerships were introduced in the UK.

However, in the judgement handed down this week, the justices of the Supreme Court unanimously allowed for the applicants husband to receive a ‘spouse’s pension’ upon his death, provided they remain married.

This is of course great news for the parties involved but it is a shame that in 2017 the applicant had to resort to a court application to secure equal rights for his husband should the worst happen.